Messages - Julio Di Benedetto

Ah...so there is some peat in the Bunnahabhain 12, perhaps in the way Talisker and Highland Park do. Its up next.

I have been to Scotland a few times when I lived in England from the age of about 5 - 22 before returning to America. Camping in the Outer Hebrides was highlight. I was either Lewis or Harris....seems another lifetime ago for sure. What a privilege for me now that I have the memory of the wonderful landscape and people as I enjoy these malts today.

Thanks for the picture Thirdsystem...good to chat with someone really close to the subject.

Yes thanks for joining in Thirdsystem......I have been looking at the Bunnahabhain 12, supposed to be non peat from what I understand. Islay malt without peat Thanks for the recommendation.

This one is very special. The GlenDronach 15 was high recommended to me, one of the greats but so was the price $90-100, so I went for the 12.....whats so interesting and enjoyable is that a given whiskey has such a diverse and complexed taste....I have not tasted one that is similar, in quality yes.....even the smoke is different in a peated malt.

This is the crazy part. I've been doing this for almost a year now and I have not had ONE SINGLE COLD. I use to deal with 3-4 colds a year so I'm of the opinion a tiny bit of this stuff a day is sort of killing off germs. Plus I sleep way better!

In the last six months since I have been seriously enjoy this whiskey trail I can say that I seem to have a better sense of well being.....cant actually put my finger on it.....a dram or 2 a night. So easy to do more and how quick this stuff comes back to bite you! Does not tolerate abuse. Everything in moderation.

Enjoyed Oblivion....saw it when it came out. The balance between content and action was better than what hollywood usually dishes out...all action!

At the end of the movie when the second Tom Cruise arrived at the lake house, made me wonder what the heroine of the movie would do with all these Tom Cruise character around....a bit of weird ending in my mind.

iTunes here...never explored other options as it came installed. It did take a bit of work configuring itunes to store my files where I wanted them. Mac apps love to do it their way. Stopped using Aperture for this very reason and use Photoshop , Camera Raw and Bridge because it insists you do it your way. (so much better as well) Drifting off topic sorry.

I did use Amarra which sort of worked on top of itunes to improve playback quality.....a go to audiophile server solutions. Comes form one of the most highly regarded audio editing software companies for mastering engineers called Sonic Studio. http://www.sonicstudio.com

I have been enjoying this one in the new year.... I was expecting more of an impact from the rum casks, its there and adds a spice to the taste just subtle which is not a bad thing. I find the nose is not there as Ive become used to in the malts Ive been drinking recently and for me 50% of the enjoyment is in the smell. Perhaps coming in after such intense and dynamic malts as Lagavulin 16 & Aberlour 16 it could seem a bit well manner but certainly not shy. Definitely worth exploring.

One thing a few people have mentioned in passing, but which hasn't been stated explicitly, is that some studio devices, such as mixing boards especially, but also some DA converters, often have very good headphone preamps built in.

Both my mixer the speck x sum and Metric Halo uln2 daw interface have very good headphone amps.....the detail that comes through both theses units are stellar. Better than a dedicated headphone amp, probably not but they get the job done.

Serens graphic representation is the core to building ambient/drone music.....it also represents the fundamental idea of layering tracks where the depth in music is not just in a time line but has space and dimension at any moment along that timeline.

Drones for me are created in real time.....that is I will create a patch in a synth and start to work with modulation in a way that brings motion within the sound, then add a sequencer or arpeggiator to further shape the sound, then open up an envelope generator......long attack and release......then reverb or not. Often a sound can become very complex and beautiful that reverb takes the interest away, sort of dulls it and yet that also could be just what is needed. Say I record what Ive just described as track B in Serens illustration.....how does it interact with track A which has already be recorded with another sound. This is where it can get really exciting. The very interaction or conflict between tracks can be the creation of drones that did not exist before. As already said its down to imagination and how the sounds inspire you.

I have a synth that has a second VCA when opened acts like an endless sustain on each voice which turns my playing into drones and as the voices are used up they drop away and are replaced by the next note which can create unusual texture.

The source of a sound such as an oscillator or real instrument is not as important as what is done to the oscillator or where that real instrument is played......i.e flute recorded in the grand canyon. You could alter the flute in some way to make it less flute like and perhaps more interesting but ultimately I prefer to keep the source clean.

How do you turn something by itself that is rather boring into a thing, a sound that is full of dynamics and wonder that inspires you and most like the listener.....figure that out and you are ready to create music. I am still trying.

Hey.... its your dram and a glass is a glass is a glass? Personally the rocks glass is out as it does not concentrate the vapor coming off the whiskey. None of these glasses actually alters the taste....it does change slightly from glass to glass but this is because each one delivers the liquid to the palette differently due to their individual shapes.

had these 2 years now - still think they are fantastic. Though those Focals look very, very nice Julio

I think Seren I got my Grado SR 325 about the same time.....they are fantastic. I originally got a pair of SR 125's based on mastering engineers singing the praise of grado's for being able to look, so to speak, deep into the music. The Grado SR 325's are exciting to listen to. The detail and soundstage is amazing. The Focals do not have the same openness, they cant they are closed back and I would say that in a way they sound dull next to the Grado's and not that the Grados are hyped at all. What I perceive as dull is a neutrality which is what Focal is after with these cans in an attempt to engage the pro audio market. I believe Focal are going to make similar cans geared to the A/V - HiFi market.

FYI.....the Focal headphones really do an honest recreation of what I hear off the the Focal Twin monitors. This is great for Focal monitor owners but I feel it says so much more about the cans themselves. Much that I do while tracking, which is when I use headphones the most will need little revision while mixing on the main monitors. This should be true for any monitor setup..... Kudos to Focal

Yes Paul I do agree with you about mastering your on music, even if you have all that is need to do the job beyond great ears...few have the right acoustic rooms to really hear.

Funny you mention Howie Weinberg....I was watching an Antelope converter discussion with him....funny guy, quite a character. Stoked for you. What was the name of the client if you dont mind revealing.

Got a bottle of Ardbeg Uigeadail as a Xmas gift....had it before and was not that keen, strange as I love Ardbeg 10....tried it hoping and took it back.

I got this in its place. I thought of trying the Highland Park 15 as I enjoyed the 12yr but went for the Aberlour 16.....my favorite non Islay malt so far. It has a complexity to it as a Lagavulin but no peat and for me has more depth the a Belvenie 12 and in some way the Highland Park 12 that does have a little more smoke. You wont miss the smoke and the ocean in this one

Really great Paul....takes me back to when I was about 10yrs old or so and I would bellow my lungs(I cant sing) out to Come oh ye and Hark the herald at this time of the year, though it was just an organ and no such production as you have given it.

Interesting you sent it out to Sadler to master....a great engineer...did you feel to close to it to do it yourself.